Independent Study and Research

Independent Study (SOC 406) entails a supervised research project or extensive literature review that results in a monograph. Any number of topics or issues would be appropriate by utilizing one of the following methodological approaches: (a) modeling/theoretical synthesis (literature review), (b) designing and executing an original research project, (c) analysis of secondary data, (d) content analysis, or (e) field research/observation/participant observation. Given that these are not mutually exclusive approaches, some combination may be appropriate.

Specific requirements for enrolling in an Independent Study are that the student:
1. is classified as a senior.
2. earned a grade of C+ or higher in Soc 351 (Research Methods).
3. has demonstrated proficiency in writing.
4. has a minimum GPA of 3.0 in sociology or special permission.
5. has submitted a formal proposal of goals and plans (applications are available from any sociology faculty member).

Submission of the proposal should be made 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the exam period in the semester prior to the study.

Requirements for completing the Independent Study include regular meetings with the faculty supervisor, completion of assigned work throughout the semester, and completion of the research monograph by the end of the semester.

Full course credit (with an accompanying letter grade) is awarded. On average, the student should expect to spend a minimum of 8 to 10 hours per week on activities associated with the Independent Study.

Recent Titles of Independent Research Projects:

• A Comparison of the Health Beliefs Model and the Fishbein/Azjen Theory of Reasoned Action in Predicting Exercise Behavior
• An Analysis of Holocaust Denials
• Alienation, Education, and High School Dropouts
• An Assessment of Service Gaps in the Roanoke Valley That Result in Out of Community Placement for Children and Adolescents
• A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis of the Secularization Thesis
• An Operationalization of Civil Religion
• Disability to Ethnicity: A Labeling Approach to Deafness
• Portrayal of the Physician-Patient Relationship in the Mass Media: A Content Analysis of Medically Themed Movies and Television Shows
• Empirical Analysis of Secularization
• Evaluation Research of Family Preservation Services
• Increasing the Access to Medications for Low Income Persons
• Sociological Methods and Advertising/Marketing
• Cultural Relativism and Female Circumcision
• A Durkheimian Perspective of Redemptive Cults
• Role of Women in the Ku Klux Klan
• Durkheim's Theoretical Approach to Suicide
• Now You Hear Them, Now You Don't: A Postmodern Analysis of One-Hit Wonders
• Prejudice Among Young Adults
• Durkheim's Theory of Collective Representation and the According of Sacred Significance to Secular Events
• What Went Right? Female Physicians' Perspectives on Gender Bias in Education

Recent Paper Presentations at Professional Meetings:

• Personal Advertisements: Content Analysis and Theoretical Perspectives (1995, Virginia Social Science Association, Virginia Beach)
• Alienation in Schools: A Marxian Analysis of Secondary Education (1995, Virginia Social Science Association, Virginia Beach)
• A Comparison of the Health Beliefs Model and the Fishbein/Azjen Theory of Reasoned Action in Predicting Exercise Behavior (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond)
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Contribution to Sociology (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond)
• Portrayal of the Physician-Patient Relationship in the Mass Media: A Content Analysis of Medically Themed Movies and Television Shows (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond)
• An Ethnomethodological Analysis of the Navajo Indian Culture: The Loss of Culture in America (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond).
• Religion as an Extension of Language: Toward a Theory of Meaning (1997, Southeastern Undergraduate Sociology Symposium, Atlanta)
• Soccer as Colective Representation: A Durkheimian Perspective (1997, Virginia Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Secularization and Sacralization Within the Jewish Diaspora (1997, Virginia Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Graniteville, South Carolina: Anomaly or Prototype of a Southern Textile Community (1997, Virgina Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Secular Ethic and the Spirit of Elvis: Representations of Redemption (1997, Virgina Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Humanizing the Cosmos: A Post-Modern Angelogy (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• Prejudice Among College Students (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• Representations of the State of Israel (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• What Went Right? Female Physicians' Perpsectives on Gender Bias in Education (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• Bridging the Chasm of the Bifurcation of Consciousness: Female Physicans and Structurally Transformative Agency (1998, Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta)

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